U.S. Attorney’s Office – Northern District of New York – Vacancy Announcement

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
ASSISTANT UNITED STATES ATTORNEY
UNITED STATES ATTORNEY’S OFFICE
Northern District of New York
 Vacancy Announcement No. 14-NDNY02
Opens February 7, 2014

About the Office: The United States Attorney’s Office prosecutes federal offenses and represents the United States in civil cases. The Northern District of New York is comprised of 32 counties in upstate New York, a territory comparable to the combined area of Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, and Connecticut. We have staffed offices in Syracuse (headquarters), Albany, Binghamton, and Plattsburgh. Our Assistant U.S. Attorneys appear before federal judges in those cities and Utica. (Auburn, Malone, and Watertown also are designated sites for court). Our Syracuse office is currently staffed by 17 attorneys and 27 support personnel, our Albany office is staffed by 14 attorneys and 19 support personnel, our Plattsburgh office is staffed by 3 attorneys and 2 support personnel, and our Binghamton office is staffed by 2 attorneys and 1 support personnel.

Responsibilities and Opportunity Offered:The United States Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of New York is seeking attorneys to work in the Criminal and Civil Divisions of our offices in Albany, Plattsburgh, and/or Syracuse, New York. Assistant U.S. Attorneys in our Criminal Division prosecute federal crimes, including offenses involving national security and border security; fraudulent and/or corrupt conduct in government, health care, mortgage transactions and other banking, securities transactions and other corporate activity, federal procurement, bankruptcies, and federal taxation; child exploitation; gang activity and violence; drug trafficking and smuggling; and illegal immigration, and work with law enforcement agencies to investigate such crimes. The prosecutions include research and writing on legal issues and representation of the United States in hearings, trials, and appeals. Assistant U.S. Attorneys in our Civil Division handle civil matters on behalf of the United States, including defensive torts (including medical practice cases), Bivens claims, employment discrimination, affirmative civil enforcement (including False Claims Act matters), bankruptcy, prisoners, collections, and IRS summons enforcement. The successful applicant may also handle other civil matters, as needed, and civil appeals. Day-to-day responsibilities may include working with agency counsel and others to investigate such matters, researching legal issues, drafting motions or motion responses, drafting interrogatories and requests for admissions, taking and defending depositions, attending settlement conferences, and conducting hearings and trials.

Qualifications: U.S. citizenship is required. In addition, applicants must possess a Juris Doctor (J.D.) degree from an accredited law school, be an active member in good standing of the bar (of any jurisdiction), have at least 1 year post-J.D. experience, and have sound judgment and integrity. The ideal candidate will have at least 3 years post-J.D. experience, as well as self-reliance and the ability to work collaboratively with other attorneys, support staff, and law enforcement agencies; superior analytical and communications skills; significant litigation experience; outstanding talent as a writer and courtroom advocate; and proficiency in computer research and writing.

Travel: Employment will require occasional travel to court at one of the designated sites in our District. Other occasional travel within and/or outside the District is anticipated.

Type of Position: All initial attorney appointments to the Department of Justice are made on a 14-month (temporary) basis pending favorable adjudication of a background investigation.

Salary Information: Assistant United States Attorneys’ pay is administratively determined based, in part, on the number years of professional attorney experience. The range of basic pay is $51,403 – $151,660 (including 14.16% locality pay).

Location: Albany is the state capital. The Albany-Schenectady-Troy metropolitan area is home to 825,875 people. The New York State Museum is in Albany, and the Saratoga National Historical Park is nearby. The capital area has a rich history and a vibrant present, with outstanding schools and social opportunities. The Times Union Center in Albany is touted as the premier sports and entertainment facility in upstate New York. The Saratoga Performing Arts Center is another regular concert venue and the summer home of the New York City Ballet. It is a short drive from the capital area to the beauty and year-round recreational opportunities in the Adirondack Mountains, Lake George, and the Catskills. Boston and New York City are about three hour drives from our Albany office.

Plattsburgh is situated on the shores of magnificent Lake Champlain. The Lake is a splendid venue for boating, wind surfing, and fishing. Lake Champlain is surrounded by the majestic peaks of the Green Mountains of Vermont and the Adirondack Mountains of New York. Less than an hour’s drive, the High Peaks/Lake Placid regionBthe venue for the 1932 and 1980 winter OlympicsBoffers both winter and summer outdoor recreation, including downhill and cross-country skiing, snowmobile/ATV trails, camping, hiking, and backpacking. The Champlain Valley and surrounding areas offer a setting as spectacular and beautiful as any in the Eastern United States.

Syracuse is the headquarters office for the Northern District of New York and is situated in the heart of Central New York, a region with a population of just under 1.2 million. Syracuse calls itself “the epicenter of the northeast” based on its central location, with Toronto, Niagara Falls, Montreal, New York City, and Philadelphia all within a four hour drive. There are abundant recreational opportunities nearby in the Finger Lakes and Thousand Islands regions and areas for downhill skiing and other winter sports. Syracuse is home to more than 50 parks, 40 golf courses, 40 museums and galleries, the Syracuse Opera, public access to the Erie Canal, the New York State Fair, and Syracuse University. The area surrounding Syracuse is known for its fresh produce and homemade goods from numerous family-run farms and farm stands, an abundance of B&Bs, country houses and inns offering overnight accommodations and culinary experiences, live musical and theatrical performances at various venues, and year-round festivals, and museums and exhibits touting our cultural heritage (including the Boxing and Baseball Halls of Fame).

Relocation Expenses: Relocation expenses will not be paid.

Application Process and Deadline Date: Interested persons should send a cover letter, detailed resume, and writing sample to USANYN.applications@usdoj.gov  or they can be mailed to:

Edward R. Broton, Chair, Hiring Committee
 Attn: Jeri Fowler, Human Resources Officer
United States Attorney’s Office, Northern District of New York
900 Federal Building, 100 South Clinton Street
Syracuse, New York 13261

Positions are open until filled, but no later than February 6, 2015. (The filling of these positions is subject to the availability of funds).

No telephone calls please. Please be certain to include your position (civil/criminal) and location preference(s) in your application materials.

Security Requirements: Initial appointment is conditioned upon a satisfactory pre-employment adjudication. This includes fingerprint, credit and tax checks, and drug testing. In addition, continued employment is subject to a favorable adjudication of a background investigation.

Internet Sites: This and other attorney vacancy announcements can be found here. To visit the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of New York click here.

Department Policies: Assistant United States Attorneys generally must reside in the district to which he or she is appointed. See 28 U.S.C. § 545 for district-specific information.

The U.S. Department of Justice is an Equal Opportunity/Reasonable Accommodation Employer. Except where otherwise provided by law, there will be no discrimination because of color, race, religion, national origin, political affiliation, marital status, disability (physical or mental), age, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, genetic information, status as a parent, membership or non-membership in an employee organization, on the basis of personal favoritism, or any non merit factor. The Department of Justice welcomes and encourages applications from persons with physical and mental disabilities. The Department is firmly committed to satisfying its affirmative obligations under the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, to ensure that persons with disabilities have every opportunity to be hired and advanced on the basis of merit within the Department of Justice. This agency provides reasonable accommodation to applicants with disabilities where appropriate. If you need a reasonable accommodation for any part of the application and hiring process, please notify the agency. Determinations on requests for reasonable accommodation will be made on a case-by-case basis.

It is the policy of the Department to achieve a drug-free workplace and persons selected for employment will be required to pass a drug test which screens for illegal drug use prior to final appointment. Employment is also contingent upon the completion and satisfactory adjudication of a background investigation. Only U.S. citizens are eligible for employment with the Executive Office for Immigration Review and the United States Attorneys’ Offices. Unless otherwise indicated in a particular job advertisement, non-U.S. citizens may apply for employment with other organizations, but should be advised that appointments of non-U.S. citizens are extremely rare; such appointments would be possible only if necessary to accomplish the Department’s mission and would be subject to strict security requirements. Applicants who hold dual citizenship in the U.S. and another country will be considered on a case-by-case basis.

There is no formal rating system for applying veterans’ preference to attorney appointments in the excepted service; however, the Department of Justice considers veterans’ preference eligibility as a positive factor in attorney hiring. Applicants eligible for veterans’ preference must include that information in their cover letter or resume and attach supporting documentation (e.g., the DD 214, Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty and other supporting documentation) to their submissions. Although the “point” system is not used, per se, applicants eligible to claim 10-point preference must submit Standard Form (SF) 15, Application for 10-Point Veteran Preference, and submit the supporting documentation required for the specific type of preference claimed (visit the OPM website,here for a copy of SF 15, which lists the types of 10-point preferences and the required supporting document(s). Applicants should note that SF 15 requires supporting documentation associated with service-connected disabilities or receipt of nonservice-connected disability pensions to be dated 1991 or later except in the case of service members submitting official statements or retirement orders from a branch of the Armed Forces showing that his or her retirement was due to a permanent service-connected disability or that he/she was transferred to the permanent disability retired list (the statement or retirement orders must indicate that the disability is 10% or more).

The Department of Justice cannot control further dissemination and/or posting of information contained in this vacancy announcement. Such posting and/or dissemination is not an endorsement by the Department of the organization or group disseminating and/or posting the information.